The difficult humanitarian situation faced by the people of Iraq is of major concern to the Government. Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs during their recent visit to Iraq saw at first hand the dreadful consequences of the current situation. Media reports have also shown the extent of the suffering among the Iraqi people. As a member of the UN Security Council, our approach to this issue is informed both by the need to address the human suffering and to ensure that Iraq complies with the decisions of the Security Council and co-operates with the UN oil for food programme in allowing adequate and equitable distribution of humanitarian supplies to its population.
The failure of the Iraqi Government to co-operate with the UN commission appointed to verify the dismantling of Iraq's programme to acquire weapons of mass destruction is the basis for the continued imposition of the sanctions. Security Council Resolution 1254 provides for the suspension of sanctions in return for Iraqi co-operation with the new disarmament supervisory commission. The Government wishes to see the necessary co-operation from Baghdad to allow concrete progress to be made on the suspension of the sanctions and their lifting as soon as possible.
The oil for food programme was established between the UN and the Government of Iraq in 1996 to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people in the context of the UN economic sanctions regime. On 14 February this year, the UN Secretary General approved a new $5.5 billion plan submitted by Iraq for distributing UN-administered humanitarian aid in the country over the next six months.
The UN Secretary General this week provided to the Security Council a report containing a detailed and objective analysis of the operation of the oil for food programme over the last six month period and what it means for the period ahead. The Secretary General concludes that, as long as sanctions are in place, there is no alternative to the oil for food programme in providing for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people and restates the commitment of the United Nations to ensuring delivery of that assistance. He points out that, under the existing Security Council resolutions, the Government of Iraq has the necessary authorisation to export unlimited amounts of oil in exchange for the importation of a wide range of humanitarian goods. According to the Secretary General, the funds are available for the Government of Iraq to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi population.
The Secretary General, however, notes with serious concern the two month delay by Iraq in submitting its distribution plan for the assistance to be provided during the next six month period. He is also seriously concerned that, despite its known capacity, Iraq has reduced its oil exports below previous levels to the point where the $5.5 billion required for humanitarian assistance may not be achieved. The Secretary General also reports that, despite previous agreements, there are increasing and inordinate delays in the issuing of visas by Iraq to UN humanitarian personnel and that these are having an adverse affect on the implementation of the programme.
The Secretary General is frank in highlighting the range of constraints and difficulties experienced in the effective implementation of the programme and the reasons the necessary assistance is not reaching the Iraqi civilian population. The following are a number of examples taken from the report of direct relevance to our discussions: on the specific issue of the nutritional needs of children, the Secretary General expresses a strong concern that the financial allocation and infrastructure requested by Iraq will not solve the existing problems of malnutrition. In his view, the necessary funds are available for the Government of Iraq to address urgently the nutritional requirements of the children of Iraq. In spite of this, the Secretary General reports that during the past six month period the Government of Iraq has made no application for a targeted nutrition programme for malnourished children, pregnant women or breast-feeding mothers.
On health care and the provision of vital medicines and vaccines, the Secretary General reports that new administrative procedures introduced by Baghdad are contributing to serious delays in the submission of applications for contracts. He states that in the past six months, out of a total allocation of $625 million, only $135 million worth of applications have been submitted by Iraq. The resulting shortage of medicines and vaccines exposes the Iraqi population to normally preventable infections and places the lives of 4.7 million Iraqi children under the age of five years at risk.
The Secretary General also refers to the unacceptably high level of holds placed on applications for assistance by a number of states in the sanctions committee. These now constitute 16.5% of all applications. He regrets the continued lack of progress within the sanctions committee on improving the approval process, in reviewing applications in an expeditious manner and in decreasing the number of applications on hold. The Secretary General recommends the wider application of existing fast-track mechanisms for the approval of applications and the expansion of the so called "green list" of automatically approved goods. It should also be noted that Iraq's own performance in failing to place orders on time is responsible for $1.5 billion worth of goods being placed on hold.
The Secretary General concludes that it is essential for all the parties concerned, now more than ever, to depoliticise and facilitate the implementation of the programme. The Government shares that view. The Minister for Foreign Affairs discussed the issue of Iraq, the continuing UN economic sanctions and their humanitarian cost at high level meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov in Moscow on 21 February; with French Foreign Minister Vedrine in Paris on 23 February; with the new US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in Washington on 28 February; and yesterday with German Foreign Minister Fischler in Berlin. The Minister's objective was to ascertain how thinking is developing in these capitals with a view to identifying the most effective role Ireland can play in promoting a forward-looking and constructive approach.
In his discussions, the Minister outlined the concerns of the Government at the suffering being endured by the Iraqi civilian population and the difficulties arising in the provision of humanitarian assistance as a result of sanctions. He explained the approach which Ireland has adopted in the Security Council to the effect that recent developments in Iraq need to be considered in their broad context taking account of humanitarian issues and the need for Iraq to comply with Security Council resolutions, especially those relating to the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. He particularly focused on the need to encourage new thinking on how to move beyond the current impasse in the Security Council, where the permanent five members are in dispute on the way forward, and to reach agreement on a comprehensive solution as soon as possible.
The Minister believes from the outcome of those meetings that there is an emerging view, including in the new US Administration, in favour of examining possible new approaches to the implementation of sanctions. This is very much in line with the view Ireland has advocated, namely, that the Security Council must take greater account of the humanitarian dimension and that greater flexibility is required in the implementation of sanctions.
The Government supports the ongoing efforts of the UN Secretary General to restart a process of dialogue between Iraq and the United Nations. We welcome the meeting which took place two weeks ago between the Secretary General and the Iraqi Foreign Minister. These contacts will resume. The Government hopes these discussions will provide an opportunity to identify the areas in which progress can be made, in particular in overcoming the problems caused by hold-ups and delays in implementing the oil for food programme and in the deployment of the UN disarmament mission.
Ireland will continue to contribute actively to discussions on this issue in the Security Council and sanctions committee. The Government will work to ensure sufficient progress can be made to permit additional measures to substantially reduce the humanitarian cost of the sanctions. We look forward to the lifting of sanctions altogether. To help bring this about, it will be necessary for Iraq to demonstrate its peaceful intentions with concrete evidence, especially with regard to its neighbours.
Ireland will continue to provide substantial assistance for the people of Iraq. In addition to our regular contributions to the UN funds and programmes operating in the country, Ireland provided a total of £596,000 in bilateral humani tarian assistance during 1999 and 2000. Most recently, the Government provided £100,000 from Ireland Aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of health, water and sanitation facilities.
Since 1997, the European Community Humanitarian Office, ECHO, has disbursed over £21 million in assistance to Iraq, focusing on the most vulnerable and on basic needs, in particular those of malnourished children. ECHO is due to embark on a major fact finding and needs assessment mission to Iraq in April. With our UN and EU partners, and in conjunction with the Iraqi authorities, the Government will continue to strongly support these and other practical measures to ensure the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to children and other vulnerable sectors of the population.
It remains the Government's wish to see the lifting of the UN economic sanctions against Iraq altogether. To bring this about, it will be necessary for Iraq to co-operate with the new UN disarmament supervisory commission. The Government also wishes to see full co-operation between Iraq and the UN humanitarian assistance programmes. We remain concerned that the widespread suffering of the Iraqi people has been exacerbated by the apparent withholding of food and medical supplies from the general population by the Iraqi regime and the diversion of resources to government and military purposes. The Government looks forward to the day when Iraq will be able to resume its place in the international community.